Keeping life interesting

Last year I worked part-time and it helped give each day structure. However, I decided I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom to Addie (even though I miss teaching). It has been hard adjusting to a life full of blank days needing to be filled with fun for a toddler. I often wake up in the morning and think--"what can Addie & I possibly do today to keep busy all day long?" I found that I was wasting a lot of time and wasn't feeling very productive.

Who wouldn't want to be at home with this cute kid?

I've implemented a few things recently to provide more structure to each day and week and I've found myself happier and definitely more productive!

The first thing is that I have a loose schedule of what I do with Addie each day. This is in addition to any errands we need to run, any playdates we have, etc. We've just recently started this, but it's been working great and I think will get better and better as Addie gets older. It helps to have a focus--or at least ONE thing we do each day other than play and eat and sleep.


Monday is our service day. We find some way to serve. This requires some sort of creativity. Last week we made muffins and brought that and fruit to a friend in the ward who had a baby. This week we ran an errand for another friend in the ward. I'm hoping to do more fun things for Addie like...return shopping carts in a parking lot to the store, or tape coins to vending machines, or other random acts of service.

Tuesday is our cooking day. I try to find something fun to have Addie help me with while cooking. Last week she helped me with pizza. I gave her a little piece of dough to roll out with her playdough rolling pin and then she helped me sprinkle the cheese. She loved it so much she cried when I told her we were all done. I'm hoping to have her help me with some fun fall treats. We'll post about those later.

Wednesday is our music day. We try to listen to lots of music, sing songs, and we go to our church for a mommy and me music class--Addie loves it! They sing songs, do actions, march with instruments, play with a parachute, hit sticks together, and dance with a ribbon stick. We dance at home too.

Thursday is our stories day. We go to storytime at the local library (they do a great job!) and try to read extra stories on top of the amount we usually read. I'm hoping that as Addie gets older, we can use this day to learn letters and things like that.

Friday is our craft day. Pinterest is my source of inspiration. Last week we made a stoplight using ripped up paper (it took Addie a little while to get into it, but then she enjoyed it) and ghosts for the door for halloween (we traced Addie's hand and then turned it upside down). Addie wasn't too into the crafts yet so I need to find things she'll be more interested in and/or be more patient. My plan for this week is to make this: egg carton caterpillar.


If you feel like your days have become BLAH (especially if you're a stay at home mom), you should try to come up with some sort of schedule. It helps so much! You can steal mine or make your own. I know Addie has been having more fun--and learning more--too!